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Indigenous Uses andEthnobotany of Cannabissativa L. (Hemp) in Uttaranchal(India)N. C. Shah aa Centre for Indigenous Knowledge of Indian HerbalResources (CIKIHR)Published online: 25 Sep 2008.

To cite this article: N. C. Shah (2004) Indigenous Uses and Ethnobotany of Cannabissativa L. (Hemp) in Uttaranchal (India), Journal of Industrial Hemp, 9:1, 69-77, DOI:10.1300/J237v09n01_07

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Indigenous Uses and Ethnobotanyof Cannabis sativa L. (Hemp)

in Uttaranchal (India)

N. C. Shah

ABSTRACT. Cannabis sativa L. is one of the oldest food, fibre, medic-inal, psychoactive and oil plants known. It has been used by innumerableethnic societies in Asia. Uttaranchal (India) is an ethnic region where theplant is a part of the local culture. In this paper the indigenous uses andethnobotany of its seed, seed oil, stems, fibre, leaves, inflorescences andresin along with various recipes of seeds are described. A theory of its in-troduction to Uttaranchal by ethnic races is also given. It is concludedthat in the light of the present commercial and industrial uses of Canna-bis its cultivation should be promoted in Uttaranchal and other parts ofthe Himalayan regions of India, where it grows naturally and is culti-vated for folk uses. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Doc-ument Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> 2003 by TheHaworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Bhang, fibre, food, medicine, psychoactive, nutrition,food, oil, origin, recipes, seed, Uttaranchal

N. C. Shah is Retired Scientist, CIMAP, CSIR (India), and Hon. Coordinator, Cen-tre for Indigenous Knowledge of Indian Herbal Resources (CIKIHR).

Address correspondence to: N. C. Shah, MS-78, Sector-‘D,’ Aliganj, Lucknow-226024 India (E-mail: ncshah@sancharnet.in).

The author is grateful to the Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi forfinancial support and to Mr. Ghulam Jilani, Data Entry Computer Operator, for typingwith great care and patience.

Journal of Industrial Hemp, Vol. 9(1) 2004http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JIH

2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J237v09n01_07 69

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INTRODUCTION

Cannabis sativa L. is one of the oldest food, fibre, medicinal, psycho-active, and oil yielding plants known. It is found throughout the Himala-yas below 2500 m in temperate Asian countries and is used for variouspurposes by ethnic peoples. It has long been recorded in archaeologicalfindings in various regions of Asian countries. It is stated that it was thesole food which Buddha ate during the penance of his enlightenment. Ithad long been used as food and fibre in various ways in a number of eth-nic regions of Asia. The indigenous and ethnobotanical uses of its seed,seed oil, seed cake, female inflorescence, fibre, etc., in Uttaranchal (In-dia) are discussed along with the location, topography, and ethnographyof the region and how and by whom Cannabis may have been intro-duced in Uttaranchal in ancient times.

LOCATION, TOPOGRAPHY, AND OCCURRENCE

Uttaranchal (Figure 1) is a newly formed state from Uttar Pradeshcomprised of 12 districts and covers an area of about 38,000 square km.The Himalayan mountain ranges of Uttaranchal are known as KumaonHimalaya, a part of the Western Himalaya, which begins in the northand extends for about 320 km between the river Kali in the East and thegreat defile of Sutlej in the West.

The original and the main natives of this region are mainly theKhasias (Indo-Aryans and Indo-Scythians) and the Bhotias (a cross be-tween Indo-Aryans and Indo-Scythians and Mongoloids) who settled inthis region in prehistoric times.

Cannabis occurs throughout the hills with temperate climate rangingfrom 1,000 to 2,800 m, near human dwellings (Figure 2). It is, therefore,also called an anthropophilic species. Usually, it is grown on high north-ern slopes above 1,000 m and flourishes best in well-manured fields. Itscultivation does not require any weeding or irrigation and is mostlygrown in the eastern parts of the region, i.e., in district Pithoragarh. Theseeds are sown in May and June and the crop is harvested from the mid-dle of October to November. Flowering is from July to August withfruiting from October to November.

FOLK TAXONOMY

Cannabis is locally known as ‘Bhangalu’ or ‘Bhangau,’ the localnames possibly derived from the word ‘Bhang,’ which is originally a

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Sanskrit name. The root word ‘ang’ or ‘an’ recurs in all the Indo-Euro-pean and modern Semitic languages (De Candolle, 1886 p. 148). InUttaranchal, the people recognize two distinct types of Cannabis: thecultivated one, known as ‘Ghar-Bhangau,’ and the wild one, ‘Kath-Bhangau,’ which usually grows near habitations, mostly near cattle-sheds known as ‘Khattas.’ ‘Ghar’ and ‘Kath’ are appellations meaningdomestic and wild. ‘Ghar Bhangau’ are tall plants 1.5-4 m in height and‘Kath Bhangau’ are comparatively short, ranging from 0.5-1.5 m inheight (Shah, 1987).

INDIGENOUS USES IN UTTARANCHAL

As an abuse or curse, and for naming of persons in Christening: Can-nabis is often seen growing around abandoned and dilapidated houses

N. C. Shah 71

HARYANA

UTTAR PRADESH

Dehradun

Haridwar

HIMACHAL PRADESH TIBET(CHINA)

NEPAL

LOCATION OF UTTARANCHAL IN INDIA

Uttarkashi

Tehri Garhwal

Pauri

Nainital

Almora

Bageshwar

Chamoli

Pithoragarh

RudraPrayag

ChampawatUdham Singh

Nagar

ARABIAN SEA

BAY OF BENGAL

PAKISTAN

TIBET(CHINA)

NEPAL

FIGURE 1. Loation of Uttaranchal in India.

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and therefore used as abuse (curse). Therefore, whenever the peoplewant to curse someone, they simply utter. ‘Teri kuri bhangau jam jo,’which means: ‘May hemp grow in your house,’ i.e., ‘Your house be ru-ined and damaged to such an extent that Cannabis will grow there.’People also name their male child after the intoxicant resin obtainedfrom the plant and known as ‘attar’ as in Attar Singh (Shah, 1997).

As medicine: The juice of pressed leaves dropped in the ear relievesear-ache and mixed with a little sugar is applied on cuts. The paste ofleaves is used in piles. The leaves are considered anthelmintic (Shah andJain, 1988). Small pellets prepared from young leaves are dipped in waterand the water is taken to cure stomach-pain due to intestinal worms. Oilfrom the seeds is extracted and used as an edible oil, applied topically tocure skin burns and massaged for muscular pains (Nautiyal et al., 2000).

As food: Shah (1997, 2001) described the use of Cannabis seed asfood in various recipes and dishes:

• Parched seeds: Cannabis seed and rice are parched or toasted to-gether and then beaten flat. These mixed grains are carried by the

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FIGURE 2. Cultivation of Cannabis in Uttaranchal, usually in a small piece ofland for domestic use only.

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village-folk as a ready made snack for long distance trips. It is be-lieved that this food keeps the body warm during winter and pro-vides energy.

• Condiment and gravy: The seeds are lightly toasted until they be-come semi-brown and then finely ground to make a fine paste andmixed with water and sifted to remove the unground seed coat par-ticles. Water is added to the sifted portion. Then it is mixed to thecooked vegetable, well stirred and boiled. The vegetables in whichit is usually mixed are: the leaf and flower buds and tendrils ofmarrow (Cucurbita pepo), taro (Colocasia esculenta) mixed withtrigonella (Trigonella foenum graecum) leaves, black mustard(Brasica nigra) leaves mixed with potato (Solanum nigrum) tu-bers; and also in meat as a gravy and as a condiment.

• Seed curry: The seeds are well ground with a little water to form afine paste. Sufficient water is added to the paste and the suspensionis then sifted. The sifted portion is boiled for some time and powderof turmeric (Curcuma domestica Valet.), coriander (Coriandrumsativum Linn.), chillies (Capsicum annuum), and asafoetida (Ferulaasafoetida Linn.) and then salt is mixed according to taste. Thiscurry is known as ‘bhang-jhoi’ (Cannabis curry) and is eaten withcooked rice or ‘chapati’ (unleavened bread).

• ‘Chatni’ or ‘uncooked sauce’: The seeds are lightly parched alongwith cumin seeds (Cuminum cyminum) and dried chilly. First theseeds of pomegranate (Punica granatum) are ground in a hand op-erated stone-grinder known as a ‘silbatta.’ When a semi-paste isformed, it is mixed with the parched seeds and other condimentsand salt according to taste and ground again until a fine paste isformed. In case that the pomegranates are not available, thenlemon (Citrus medica var acida) is squeezed into the ground mate-rial and a fine paste is made. The ‘chatney’ so prepared is takenwith meals to make the food more palatable and tasty. The ‘chatney’is known as ‘Bhange Khate.’

• Salt condiment: Toasted or parched seeds are ground with driedchilly and common salt and the preparation is known as ‘Bhangaloon’meaning ‘the salt of hemp.’ The local people enjoy ‘Chapati’ withthis tasty flavoured salt. This salt is kept for months and it does notspoil.

• Seed oil and sweet meat: Traditionally the oil from the seeds wasextracted by hand and used for frying foods. Now the oil is no lon-ger extracted and used for cooking. The oilcake was used as asweetmeat by adding jaggery (course brown sugar commonly

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known as ‘Gur’) and cooked like a pancake. This preparation wasknown as ‘Bhanga-Gajak’ (hemp sweetmeat) and is no longer made.

• Hemp ‘pakora’: The fresh leaves of hemp are mixed with chick-pea (Cicer arietinum) flour (commonly known in India as ‘Basin’condiment) and water and then made into nuggets and fried, theseare known as ‘Pakora.’

As fibre: The leaves are removed from the green stems by hand orwith a sickle. The stems are piled against the terrace walls of the field todry. After several days of exposure, they become dry and brown and aretied into bundles. These bundles are retted for a couple of weeks bysoaking in water in a pool or a running stream, and are kept under waterby stones laid over them. The bundles are taken out, when decomposedand saturated with water, and beaten with wooden batons or poles andagain dried in the sun. The fibre is then peeled off, starting from thethick end of the stalk to the top. The fibres so obtained are cleaned andwashed and are ready for spinning and weaving. These are used formaking durable ropes for cattle known as ‘Jeor,’ coarse canvas of greatstrength and durability known as ‘Bhanga Pakhuli’ (earlier worn bypoor people), and stout sack-cloth known as ‘Kuthla,’ used for makingdurable sacks or bags (Shah, 1997). It is stated that in previous times,there existed a class of people in the Pithoragarh district, who were en-gaged in weaving stout sack-cloth and they were known as KuthaliBaur. These people earlier used to weave silken cloth and for this theyused to get silk from China. Suddenly the supply of the silk ceased andthey switched over to weave stout hempen cloth and so got their name(Personal communication by U. C. Shah).

As a torch wood: The pith and wood left after separating the fibres areused as an excellent torch wood and as a fuel igniter (Shah, 1997).

PSYCHOACTIVE DRUG USES IN THE REGION

In general, three types of crude psychoactive drug preparations areproduced only from wild plants. ‘Bhang’ consists of the dried leavesand flowers of male and female shoots. In the northern plains of thecountry ‘Bhang’ is used in preparation of a beverage known as ‘Thandai’and sold in cities like Varanasi, Lucknow, Allahabad, etc. ‘Ganja’ con-sists of dried inflorescence specially from female plants without anyleaves. ‘Attar’ or ‘Charas,’ the crude resin which appears on the stemand inflorescence, are the strongest amongst all of the psychoactivepreparations.

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The people of Kumaon (Uttaranchal) seldom collect the floral leavesand inflorescence of the female plants, which after drying form ‘Ganja.’In earlier days, during ‘Holi’ and ‘Shivratri’ festivals, the merry-makersused to mix it with sweetmeat preparations. This is called ‘Mahajam,’the oral consumption of which causes mild intoxication. The female in-florescence is also used in preparation of the following Ayurvedic med-icines–Jatiphaladi churna, Vijayavatika vedantak ras, Madananandamoduk, Maha kameshwar, Kameshwar, Maha madan modak, Rati-ballabh rasayan, Koch pak, etc. These proprietary medicines are usedeither as aphrodisiacs or tonics.

According to Shah (1997), the resinous exudation that adheres to thehands when the mature leaves and inflorescence of the plant are rubbedwith the palms is known as ‘Attar’ or ‘Charas’ in Uttaranchal. Personsusually involved in the extraction of ‘Attar’ are also its habitual usersand are known as ‘Attarchi.’ ‘Attarchis’ seem to have good knowledgeabout the yield of ‘Attar’ from the plant and according to them: (i) thewild plant yields more ‘Attar’ than the cultivated ones, which are onlygrown for seeds and fibres; (ii) the small leaves of the female inflores-cence are rich in ‘Attar,’ and (iii) the yield on a hot sunny day is morethan on a cloudy day and one can extract about 30 g ‘Attar’ on a sunnyday from wild growing plants. It is believed that during the rainy seasonthe ‘Attar’ is washed away. It is also believed that the best ‘Attar’ comesfrom the eastern region of Uttaranchal and Nepal. Usually, men abovethe age of 30 indulge in the habit of smoking ‘Attar.’ The ‘Attarchis’mostly keep company with the ‘Sadhus’ (hermits), who smoke ‘Attar’for meditation and to warm up the body during winter.

ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES AND INTRODUCTIONOF HEMP IN UTTARANCHAL

According to Schultes and Hofmann (1980), Cannabis dates back atleast to the time of Herodotus (450 BC), they wrote that the Scythiansused its smoke for intoxication. The original home of the Scythians wasthe Caucasus mountains and the Caspian Sea region. As stated by some,they reached India either from the west or through the Himalayan passesfrom the Tibet side (Shah, 1997).

According to Atkinson (1882), the early settlers in Kumaon (Uttaranchal)were the ‘Kirats,’ ‘Khasas,’ ‘Nagas,’ and ‘Sakas.’ The ‘Kirats’ were thefirst to arrive and were Mongolians and the ‘Sakas’ were Scythians(Shafer, 1954).

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If we presume the Caspian Sea region and the Caucasus Mountains tobe the original home of Cannabis, it can be well speculated that it wasbrought to India and Uttaranchal by the Indo-Scythians (Shah, 1997).

On the contrary, if we presume Central Asia to be the original homeof Cannabis, which is also considered to be the original home of theMongolians, then it can be speculated that it followed the route of theMongolians to India and Uttaranchal through China. According Hui LinLi (1974), early historical records about Cannabis are available fromChina since Neolithic times (about 6000 years ago) and Cannabisreached India along with the nomadic tribes of North China, who as-sisted the movement of the plant to Western Asia and from there to In-dia. However, no confirmed reference to Cannabis is available in theancient texts of India such as the Atharvaveda (c. 2000-1000 BC), CarakSamhita (c. 100 AD), and Sushruta Samhita (c. 600 AD), etc. (Anony-mous, 1969).

However, five plants, Soma, Darbha, Bhanga, Yava, and Saha men-tioned as evil destroyers in the Atharveda but the identification ofBhanga has not been fully ascertained as Cannabis by scholars (Sharma,1969).

Cannabis grows in a wild state over a very wide area; at the sametime, it is always closely associated with places that are or might havebeen inhabited or used as trade routes (such as the ‘trade-passes’ of theHimalayas). Therefore, it is difficult to speculate exactly where Canna-bis originated. Schultes (1970) suggested that the mystery of the originof Cannabis can be unravelled through joint ethnobotanical, cyto-genetic, ecological, and chemotaxonomical studies.

DISCUSSION AND PERSPECTIVES

It is amusing that, while Cannabis is being cultivated on an increas-ing scale as a valuable crop for industrial products in countries in Eu-rope and in Canada, its cultivation in Uttaranchal and other parts ofIndian Himalayas is dwindling. In the past, Cannabis was a very impor-tant crop of the region. It was grown mainly for fibres, edible seeds, andfood oil. Now, due to the availability of other types of cloth, ropes, andoils, it is grown only for seeds, which are mainly locally used as condi-ment and also sold in the nearby markets. Present market rates of theseeds are 0.35-0.40 U.S. dollars per kg. Even in the interior parts of theregion, the use of hemp fibre has become obsolete and is seldom seen. Itis certain that the products of Cannabis would be cheaper to produce in

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Uttaranchal and other parts of the Indian Himalaya than in Europe, Can-ada, etc. If efforts are made to introduce improved varieties containingless THC and with a good production of seed and fibre, then there is nodoubt this crop would renew the economics of the Himalayan region.The people of this area know well how to cultivate this crop as they havegrown it for a long time. Further, it is time to encourage the local peopleto consume the seed more frequently due to its nutritious values and asprophylactic to immune deficiency and cardiac diseases.

REFERENCES

Anonymous, 1969. ‘Bhang’ Dhanwantri, Aligarh. Part 28. No. 2-3, p. 264 (in Hindi).Atkinson E.T., 1882. The Himalayan District of N.W. Provinces of India. 2, Part 1.

Govt. Press, Allahabad, India.De Candolle A., 1886. Origin of Cultivated Plants. Hafner Publishing Co. New York,

USA.Hui-Lin Li, 1974. The Origin and Use of Cannabis in Eastern Asia: Linguistic-Cultural

Implications. Econ. Bot. 28: 293-301.Nautiyal S., Rao K.S., Maikhuri R.K., Semwal R.L., Saxena K.G., 2000. Traditional

knowledge related to medicinal and aromatic plants in tribal societies in a part ofHimalaya. Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences. 22/4A, 23/1A:528-541.

Schultes R.E., 1970. Random thoughts and queries on botany of Cannabis. Pages11-58 in: Joyce, C.R.B. and Curry, S.H. (eds.). The Botany and Chemistry of Can-nabis. Churchill, London, UK.

Schultes R.E., Hofmann A., 1980. The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens.Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA.

Shafer R., 1954. Ethnography of Ancient India. Otto Harassowitz, Wiesbaden, Ger-many.

Shah N.C., 1987. Ethnobotany in the Mountainous Region of Kumaon Himalaya. The-sis submitted to the Kumaon University, Nainital for the Degree of Doctor of Phi-losophy in Botany. pp. 255.

Shah N.C., Jain S.K., 1988. Ethno-medico-botany of the Kumaon Himalaya India. So-cial Pharmacology. 2(4): 359-380.

Shah N.C., 1997. Ethnobotany of Cannabis sativa in Kumaon Region, India. Ethno-botany 9: 117-121.

Shah N.C., 2001. CIKIHR REPORT. Indigenous Knowledge & Development Monitor9(3): 20-21.

Sharma D.C., 1969. Vedon mein dravyaguna shastra. Gujrat Ayurvedic University,Jamnagar, India. (in Hindi & Sanskrit).

RECEIVED: 14 March 2003ACCEPTED IN REVISED FORM: 20 October 2003

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